


The General

by Illyah



Series: Apparently Elle's Writing Stucky Now [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Bucky and Fury dislike each other, Bucky's a good guy, But he's still kinda scary, Divergent after CA: TFA, Fluff, Fun, Getting Back Together, Happy, He missed Steve, M/M, Not Winter Soldier Compliant, The consensual military career of Bucky Barnes, This is good I promise just read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 12:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15195002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illyah/pseuds/Illyah
Summary: “Did anyone bother to tell The General?” Coulson asked Fury.Fury looked uncomfortable.Ten Minutes Later:“You’re about to meet The General.” He told Tasha and Clint. “He’s old, he’s grumpy, and he’s Captain Rogers’ closest friend.” They nodded seriously.“Don’t mention the arm."





	The General

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm stuck on where to go with my de-aged WS fic, so if you have ideas, feel free to head on over an tell me who you want Tiny!Winter to befriend next. I need a few more chapters of lead up to Quidditch. 
> 
> So I wrote this because I thought it would be fun. 
> 
> Be nice: Someone hit my car today. ;)

“Did anyone bother to tell The General?” Coulson asked Fury.

Fury looked deeply uncomfortable. “We were going to contact him once the body arrived in New York, obviously that plan has changed now.” He answered.

Coulson thought that Fury was showing a particular lack of comprehension here. Coulson on the other hand was pretty sure The General was just going to straight up kill Fury the moment he touched down stateside.

The General was a sensitive subject within SHIELD. Its founders felt as though they had failed the poor man-having lost him to the Russians for almost fifteen years. To the rank and file though, he was a legend, a cold war hero. Prisoner of War brought home, a master spy out of the cold.

But he was a hero because once he’d recovered, he could have done anything he wanted, but he turned straight around again and got himself commissioned right back in the army.

He’d managed to work his way all the way to the top and earned the rank of General without ever looking a day over twenty-six.  He still preferred to stay mostly in the shadows and shied away from the more public aspects of being a high-ranking service member. He was a black ops genius and pretty much every military man or woman had at least heard of him, and if they were really lucky, they got an opportunity to work with him.

Clint and Natasha had joined the two older men while they were lost in their thoughts.

“Come on. We have to go break some good news.” Fury told them, almost like it was a chore, and maybe he should be happier but The General just made him _weary_ , probably because Nick had yet to work out a way to take him out, while he was sure the other man had several plans on the back burner just waiting to be employed. He was shady, in Nick’s opinion.

“You’re about to meet The General.” He told Tasha and Clint. “He’s old, he’s grumpy, and he’s Captain Rogers’ closest friend.” They nodded seriously.

“Don’t mention the arm.” He warned them.

Unlike Fury, Coulson thought The General was great, he was always nice to Coulson and even signed his trading cards.

Clint didn’t believe for one second this General was as serious as Fury was making him out to be. Nat just looked cautiously intrigued.

All four of them entered the communication room and Nick was pleased that the techs still jumped in his presence. “Get me The General.”

James could hear the ping of the video screen in the communication tent. He figured if it was for him one of his techs would come find him. He’d been in the middle east for almost six months. Initially it had been a peacekeeping mission, in Syria to try to unite the two sides back together. He has been so close to succeeding, and then the Russians showed up at the negotiating table, and he fucking _hated_ the Russians, who’d done literally nothing but get in his way for the last sixty-odd years. So peacekeeping soon turned to training, and preparing the people for a civil war. It was full service training, there was military training and medical training, James knew from experience that these people were going to need both. He was actually only a few weeks from heading back stateside along with his unit, and he was excited that they were all going to make it home to their families this time. He still stayed mostly to himself, he had Sam, a friend from when he was in Afghanistan, but still preferred to keep mostly to himself, he’d had Steve and no one had ever just _gotten_ him like Steve had. That had been the worst part about coming back to himself after the Russians had him.

He’d finally battled them out of his head, only to come back and find that Steve was dead. He’d known that, _they_ had told him, but it hadn’t meant anything for so long that it was like he died all over again.

So James did what he thought Steve would have done. He turned around and went right back to fighting. And he was great because the Russians had made him the best, and so he kept getting metals and shiny new Army ranks and he thought maybe one day Steve would have been proud of him.

So when Miller comes running out of the tent announcing his has phone call, he has no idea how completely everything is about to change.

“General Barnes, Director Fury on video.” The PFC told him.

James nodded and headed inside. He has almost expected Nick to keep him waiting, even though that was ridiculous because Nick had called _him,_ but the man rubbed his last nerve.

“General Barnes.” Fury opened, at least attempting politeness.

“Fury. What’d you want? I’m a little busy here.” James answered, and gestured around him to the desert peaking through the tent flap, at the same time exposing an arm made entirely out of metal. In fact, his fatigues were completely missing their left sleeve. “Jesus Nick, you recruiting kids now?” He asked, looking at Natasha.

“Charming as always.” Fury commented.

“We don’t like each other, Nick. Get to the point.” He snarked back.

“The Captain is alive.” James couldn’t help the scoff that came out of his mouth. “The Captain, as in, _my_ Captain, Captain America?”

“The very same.”

“Funny thing, Nick, I thought Margaret and myself made it clear upon her retirement that all decisions concerning Steve were to go through me? And here I am, not even knowing you were _looking_. Color me confused, Nick” and his voice dropped making Coulson, Fury, Barton and Romanov all shiver slightly “and extremely pissed off. I’ll be wheels down in less than 24 hours. Do _not_ let him out of your sight and _do not_ pull any of the fake shit you think you’re so good at. He will see through you, and he’ll run. If you lose him, I’ll kill you.” It was the first time Clint had ever seen Natasha look afraid of someone. She had good instincts, he decided to follow her.

“Oh, and Nick? When I get back, you ‘n me, we’re gonna have words.” James finished and cut the feed.

Nick cursed his luck up and down. Barnes really was going to kill him. He’d lost Steve Rogers. They finally found him in Times Square and Nick convinced him to come back to the SHIELD building and at least hear them out. He hadn’t decided whether he was going to tell the Captain about The General or if he was just going to wait for the man to show up.

Thankfully Steve took that choice out of Fury’s hands, when they go back, he simply told the director he wanted to sleep and needed to absorb everything that had happened.

James landed in New York and moved faster than he ever had before. The idea that Steve was alive was amazing, and he let himself smile for the first time almost seven decades, because _Steve was home,_ and he had _so much_ to tell him.

When he finally made it to SHIELD headquarters his used his military ID to get him in (like it did anywhere in the country) without alerting anyone. He found Steve’s room quickly and spent and abnormal amount of time standing outside the door and watching him sleep. Which granted, was weird, but it didn’t feel weird. It felt like he was finally coming home.

Fury would never admit it, but he disliked James because James was a better spy than him, and so he knew Fury wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. He was actually pretty sure Fury thought he was supposed to be picking James up from base tomorrow and bringing him here.          

James entered the room silently and pulled up a chair beside Steve’s bed. He was still covered in dust from the desert, his long hair pulled back, and tucked behind his ears, but he grabbed ahold of Steve’s hand before laying his forehand on the bed and falling asleep.

Steve woke up and was convinced for a second he was actually dreaming and had died after all, because next to him, was Bucky, sleeping and holding Steve’s hand. But then his brain caught up and he wondered why he would be dreaming about Bucky with long hair and a metal arm instead of the Bucky he knew back in the 1920s. His breath caught in his throat because if it wasn’t a dream it meant that Bucky was really alive and he had been in 1945 and Steve _didn’t look for him oh god._       

Thank god some things never changed, as if sensing his distress Bucky woke up and immediately pulled himself until he was sitting next to Steve on the bed and taking his face between his hands.

“Hey now, baby, we’re okay.” Just like he had when Steve had been small and unable to breathe.

“Bucky?” Steve asked, and he didn’t think his voice had been that small since he was around ten.

“Yeah, pal, it’s really me. It’s been a really long time since anyone called me that.” He smiled.

Steve deflated immediately, if this was a dream he was just going to ride it out. “Why aren’tcha kissin’ me then?” Steve had seen people doing that in public, and no one was even looking at them funny.

“What kinda fella do you take me for, Stevie?” Bucky said coyly, batting his eye lashes slightly. “You gotta at least buy me dinner first.”

“But Buck,” Steve whined. “It’s only breakfast!”

“Counter offer. I buy you breakfast and we make out like teenagers.” Bucky offered.

Bucky leaned down and kissed him. When he finally pulled away he rested his forehead against Steve’s. “God, I missed you.” Bucky whispered under his breath.                              

“I was so angry, when I woke up. I felt so cheated. We had a date.”  Steve stared, eyes glassy.

“You’re late.” Bucky managed to choke out between sobs, and when had that started?

“I know, buddy, I’m so sorry.”

They laid together for a while longer just talking and catching up. They hadn’t quite gotten to what Bucky had gotten up to since being liberated from HYDRA when Fury finally made his reappearance.

“General Barnes.” Fury said stiffly. Steve perked up at that.

Bucky had gotten back into the habit of being a little shit mighty quickly, so he whispered “Nick doesn’t like me ‘cos I’m a better spy than him. And attempted to glare Fury into submission. Which worked pretty well, much to Nick’s embarrassment.

“Nick. Don’t think I don’t know you lost him yesterday.” He warned. He didn’t like Nick for a number of reasons, but the first and more prevalent being he reminded Bucky too much of the Russians, he didn’t think Fury was a traitor, but he seems the type to be willing to do anything to achieve their goals. Bucky had lived far too long to trust men like that.

Bucky decided that if Steve was going to be working with Fury, he was damn sure going to make sure that he was around to keep an eye on the situation. SHIELD had gotten a bit funny in the last few years, anyway.

Steve and Bucky quickly get bored listening and start having raucous and obscene thumb wars. Seriously, their language was enough to make Nick blush. He finally got annoyed enough to mutter under his breath, “How on _earth_ are _you_ a Five-Star General?” Before turning and heading for the door.

“Ouch Nick! Sick Burn! Oh hey! Remember that time back in the 80s when I was _The_ General of the Army? And the name stuck?” Bucky shouted while Steve rolled his eyes and dragged his grinning friend down into a kiss that was mostly a smile and a small amount of teeth.

**Author's Note:**

> According to the army website The General of the Army is actually a thing, for a super specific reason and there can only be one and it hasn't been done since WWII, but I figured I'd throw it in.


End file.
